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Prevention of allogeneic fetal rejection by tryptophan catabolism
D H Munn1, M Zhou, J T Attwood
1Program in Molecular Immunology, Institute of Molecular Medicine and Genetics, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA 30912, USA.
Science (New York, N.Y.)
|August 26, 1998
Abstract:
In 1953 Medawar pointed out that survival of the genetically disparate (allogeneic) mammalian conceptus contradicts the laws of tissue transplantation. Rapid T cell-induced rejection of all allogeneic concepti occurred when pregnant mice were treated with a pharmacologic inhibitor of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), a tryptophan-catabolizing enzyme expressed by trophoblasts and macrophages. Thus, by catabolizing tryptophan, the mammalian conceptus suppresses T cell activity and defends itself against rejection.